Every so often a dream makes such an impression on me that I take the feeling along with me through the rest of the day; sometimes even a few days, if it was really impressive.

A few weeks ago I remember becoming fairly conscious in the middle of a dream where this "bad guy" alien was shooting up the downtown of a major city with his laser guns and blowing stuff up (I think I had watched a Star Wars movie that night).  Everyone was running scared away from him.  My first reaction was also to get scared and run in the opposite direction, but due to my semi-conscious state, I stopped myself and reminded myself, "Wait, wait... I'm in a dream!"  Then I realized I didn't like the dream because all of the people in the city were scared.  I became indignant with the alien, thinking aloud, "Why are you scaring people? There is no need for them to fear! We're just in a dream!"  And I became determined to stop him, no matter -and not knowing- what might happen.  So I ran towards him and held him in my grip and didn't loosen it one little bit.  As I was running towards him, however, every step filled me with more uncertainty about the outcome, but at the same time more determination to see it through.  I awoke and spend the rest of the day with a greater degree of fearlessness and of compassion towards others than I had felt for quite some time.  

In a more recent dream I was hiking up mountain at night along a winding road.  It was difficult and cold and a few cars passed by me without noticing me at all.  I wondered if I should keep going, but didn't stop.  I don't remember what happened at the top, but I clearly remember coming back down.  I became light-footed and began almost gliding down the mountain side.  Then I heard a whisper saying to me, "That's right.  Don't be afraid. Run along the path before you!" And I began to run faster and faster, and my vision became tunnel-like and there was a veritable light at the end of the tunnel.  It was daytime down at the bottom of the mountain,  This feeling of faith and/or trust in focusing on what is before me and advancing enthusiasticlly and without fear still feels very real to me.  

With examples like these two, I feel like saying that sometimes I learn and grow more from dreams than from real life.  Certainly episodes require less time in the subtle world than in the physical, so that might account for it.  But nonetheless, they are real experiences and the lessons drawn from them are just as valid as those drawn from waking life experiences.  

Have you ever noticed that your dreams sometimes follow what you were doing right before you went to bed?  Sometimes I watch action packed films and wake up in the morning with a cool story to tell about all the bad guys I out-maneuvered that night.  Or sometimes I’ll get into playing video games with my 7-year-old a for a few hours and then dream that I was the main character in the game going on all sorts of quests and defeating level bosses.  Sometimes I read about some of the evil in the world and my dreams can get quite dark and nightmarish. On the other hand, when I take some time to meditate and read uplifting material before bed, I often see very kind people and we have very pleasant interactions.

I would love to hear your experiences with this.  Please leave a comment below!

Hm, as I re-read what I just wrote and ponder over all the other material on this website, I am getting a notion that I really ought to direct my daily attention with more purposeful intention.  I mean, uplifting thoughts not only make my day more pleasant, but also my nights!  Who doesn’t want that?  It’s in my grasp if I can just manage to make constant decisions to pick up positive, uplifting reading material instead of the scary and depressing stuff that is so much more readily available in this day and age. 

Did someone say “thought-experiment”?

The other day a neighbor called me to ask me if I had heard the loud bang at around 4 am and all the dogs barking.  She wanted to make sure it had really happened and wasn’t just a dream.  She said that her husband felt the same way -that he wasn’t completely sure if it was a dream or if it had “really” happened.  Her teenage kids did not hear it.  I told that neither my wife nor I had heard anything that night.  “Hmm,” she said.  “Strange.”

It took me back to an experience I had back in college.  I distinctly remember being woken up at around 5 am by an enormous explosion.  I jumped out of bed thinking, “what in the world was that?!”  I later asked my friends if they had heard that large explosion.  They laughed and sarcastically said, “sure dude… we totally heard it.” 

Such a strange experience.  Has anybody else ever experienced something like that?  What do you think it could be?

I have not read any books about this subject myself, but I thought I’d write a quick post about my actual experience trying this experiment.

In general, after a 2 - 6 week initial adjustment to the diet, my dreams become more vivid and they are easier to remember in the morning. When I’m eating meat, they are generally darker (they contain less light) and are much harder to recall.  On a vegetarian diet, my dreams are more often peaceful, serene, or even uplifting.  When eating meat, it’s more common for me to experience dreams relating to anxiety and fear (nightmares).  I also require less sleep when vegetarian -6.5 hours on average- and I wake up refreshed and full of energy; when eating meat, I need 8 - 8.5 hours and get up very slowly and feel heavy and tired.

These are observations, but I don’t have a theory for why this happens the way it does.  I’ll write some conjecture, but please leave comments down below if you have any other ideas.

My first idea is that the emanations of terror, panic, and suffering animals undergo when slaughtered is somehow “lodged” into the tissues and fibers of the meat that I then later eat. Those emanations are then absorbed into my own body and I feel them as fear and anxiety of my own.  Fear and anxiety are antithetical to a free-flowing, peaceful, and joyful life –the very things that are conducive to an active and productive waking and dreaming life.  

My second idea is that decay in general, but decaying meat in particular, attract unwelcome guests from the subtle world.  Guests who resonate with the emanations of death and decay, as opposed to life, love, and joy.  It’s a possibility, but I need more time and research to flesh out the details of this conjecture.

I was reading Adventures Beyond the Body (click here for my review of it) a few months ago, at a very busy time in my life.  I did not have any significantly large enough blocks of time to sit down and just read without interruption –you may know what life is like with small children in the house.  However, this didn’t stop me from reminding myself constantly that “I have to read that book!” and picturing in my mind the physical location of the book, wherever it was at the time.

In the three weeks that I was repeating this to myself, I  noticed something very interesting: twice in my dreams, I noticed that in the middle of it, whatever the environment or situation was, I’d suddenly recall that “I have to read that book!” and I’d quickly follow up by asking, “where is it?!” The first time, in my dream, I “remembered” that I had left it on the table that was located about 10 paces behind me.  I turned around, walked over to the table, and sure enough, there it was!  The second time, I was outdoors and I recall thinking very intently, “I need that book now!”, and it materialized right into my left hand.

I described these occurrences to Michael (another member of the SubtleRealm.org team) one day, and in the course of the conversation, an idea arose for a thought-experiment: for the next two weeks, instead of thinking “I need to read that book” repeatedly, I’m actually going to do some of the techniques suggested in that book; I’m going to think intently: “I am now out of my body!”, I'm going to demand “full awareness now!” and “clarity now!”.  I repeated these affirmations several times a day, as often as I could remember, with as much conviction as I could muster.

I kid you not, on the night marking exactly 2 weeks from that conversation, I had the most lucid dream I’ve ever experienced in my life.  And, even though I’m not 100% sure about this (more research and experience required), I may have even had my first out-of-body experience. I remember suddenly realizing that I was 100% present.  I called out for “full awareness now!” and so it was.  “I’m here! I’m here! I'm in the subtle world!” I called out in excitement.  “Hmm… what should I do?”

I posted a description of my experience here.